What happens after you send the form

In order

1. 1

   The lot arrives

   Your count, size, grade, marks and ZIP arrive together, with the sorter's ruling attached.

2. 2

   The desk reads it

   Marks first, then size, style, grade, location. The desk compares your photos with your answers.

3. 3

   It asks for what is missing

   A photo of a mark, a split by size, dock access details. Expect specific questions, not a form letter.

4. 4

   It rules

   The answer names the ending: sold, returned or scrapped. It says what each part of the lot would do, and how a collection would work.

What you will not get

• A price on this site. The desk answers on your own lot.
• A promise of pickup on a date before the lot is read.
• Help removing a mark.

What you should do meanwhile

Keep the piles apart. Do not move marked pallets. Do not sell any part of the lot elsewhere while the desk reads it unless you tell the desk. Keep your photos and your count somewhere you can find them.

The form fields this guide fills

• All of them, in one request

How this guide ends

Words you will meet

Profile extrusion

Pushing resin through a die to make long shapes that form pallet parts.

Regrind

Plastic ground from used or scrap parts into flakes for moulding again.

Static load

Weight a pallet carries at rest, or the bottom pallet carries when stacked. The highest of the three ratings.

Dynamic load

Weight a pallet carries while moving on a forklift, pallet jack or conveyor.

Racking load

Weight a pallet carries bridging an open span in unsupported racking. Often the lowest rating.

Pooling

Renting pallets from a company that owns, tracks and collects them instead of buying.

Closed loop

Pallets that travel between known sites and come back, so they are never lost to a downstream user.

Captive pallet

A pallet owned and kept inside one company or loop.

One-way pallet

A cheaper pallet shipped with the load and not expected back.

Multi-trip pallet

A pallet designed to be returned and reused many times.

UL 2335

UL fire-test standard for storage pallets, with an idle pallet test and a commodity storage test.

HDPE

High-density polyethylene, resin code 2. The most common resin in plastic pallets; tough and moisture resistant.

PP

Polypropylene. More rigid than HDPE and better with heat and harsh chemicals; used where rack stiffness matters.

Recycled-content pallet

A pallet moulded partly or wholly from post-industrial or post-consumer resin.

Nestable

Empty pallets stack inside one another, cutting empty storage space by up to 75 percent.

Nest increment

How much height each extra nested pallet adds to a stack.

Who asks, and what they need

Closed-loop and captive pallet users

Large uniform lots of one size and style; repair and replacement parts.

Retailers that collect pooled or one-way pallets

Stacks of marked and unmarked pallets left by suppliers; need to know which can be sold and which belong to a pool.

Plants changing packaging or pallet size

Retire a whole stock of one footprint at once; want it sold or ground up, not landfilled.

What the sources say

• Nelson Company defines dynamic capacity as the load a pallet carries in motion, always below static; static as the load at rest and the bottom pallet's limit in a stack; racking as the load across an open rack span, often the lowest and given only for pallets designed for it. (nelsoncompany.com)
• That Nelson model is under 5 in tall, which the page says suits air freight, and works with automation and most roller conveyors. (nelsoncompany.com)
• A used Nelson 48 x 40 x 6.3 in HDPE one-piece pallet weighs 49 lb with 30,000 lb static, 5,000 lb dynamic and 2,200 lb racking ratings. (nelsoncompany.com)
• An ICC article says unlisted plastic pallets may require raising the commodity hazard class by two classes, and gives an example needing about 55 percent more sprinkler water. (iccsafe.org)
• Advanced composite material pallets are 100 percent recycled polyolefins, cheaper with a shorter life, and suit export where the pallet is not returned. (nelsoncompany.com)
• Cabka says plastic export pallets are exempt from ISPM-15 treatment, that there is no single export size, and that its nestable export designs include extra-lightweight and air-freight versions. (cabka.com)
• FDA's Food Traceability Rule (FSMA section 204) requires businesses that make, process, pack or hold foods on the Food Traceability List to keep Key Data Elements for Critical Tracking Events and share them within 24 hours of a request; FDA says Congress directed it not to enforce the rule before July 20, 2028. (fda.gov)
• A Nelson 48 x 40 x 4.8 in nestable, stackable, rackable polypropylene pallet weighs 18.0 lb with ratings of 10,500 lb static, 3,100 lb dynamic and 2,700 lb racking, and is listed as ISPM 15 exempt. (nelsoncompany.com)
• That Nelson model lists about 60 pallets per stack and 1,800 per truck. (nelsoncompany.com)
• That used pallet is listed as pharma and food safe but not approved for direct food contact, in colours that vary. (nelsoncompany.com)
• Plastic pallets weigh about 3 to 15 lb when light and up to 300 lb when heavy; a typical GMA wood pallet weighs about 37 lb. (en.wikipedia.org)
• The 48 x 40 in GMA pallet makes up about 30 percent of new US wood pallets. (en.wikipedia.org)
• Metal pallets are under 1 percent of the pallet market. (en.wikipedia.org)
• NFPA requires wood and plastic pallets to be stored outdoors or in a detached structure unless sprinklers protect them. (en.wikipedia.org)
• HDPE is the most common resin in plastic pallets; PP is more rigid and the page recommends it for unsupported racking. (nelsoncompany.com)
• For products touching the pallet directly, stricter federal requirements may call for non-blended virgin HDPE; recycled pallets often meet general FDA needs. (nelsoncompany.com)

More questions sellers ask

• Nelson Company: sell used pallets

Keep reading

• Guides
• Dock access and pickup
• One lot or every month
• Count your lot
• Sell
• Sort your pile